Vanderbilt gives up big lead, still beats No. 24 Ole Miss

Field Level Media|published: Sat 22nd February, 18:17 2025

Feb 22, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Mississippi Rebels forward Malik Dia (0) gets fouled by Vanderbilt Commodores guard Tyler Nickel (5) and forward Devin McGlockton (99) during the second half at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Chris Manon scored 16 points and Tyler Nickel and Devin McGlockton hit late free throws as Vanderbilt held on for a 77-72 win over No. 24 Ole Miss on Saturday afternoon in a Southeastern Conference game in Nashville, Tenn.

Ole Miss roared back from a 19-point, first-half deficit to take the lead four minutes after halftime. The lead flip-flopped four more times before the Commodores (18-9, 6-8 SEC) fashioned a 9-0 run culminated by Tyler Tanner's driving layup to go up 71-64 with 3:13 remaining.

The Rebels would not relent, drawing to 73-70 on a steal by Dre Davis that led to a layup by Sean Pedulla with 1:02 left. Vanderbilt got two free throws from Nickel on its next possession before Pedulla answered with a pair from the charity stripe with 29 seconds to play.

McGlockton added to the Commodores' lead with two free throws with 21 seconds remaining, then Ole Miss missed a pair of 3-pointers in the final seconds to drop its second straight game.

Jason Edwards scored 15 points for Vanderbilt, with Nickel adding 13 and McGlockton tallying 10 as the Commodores snapped a three-game losing streak.

Ole Miss's Malik Dia led all scorers with 22 points. Pedulla added 21 and Jaylen Murray hit for 10 for the Rebels (19-8, 8-6).

The Commodores were in charge early, rolling to a 16-6 lead after a 3-pointer by Jason Edwards. Grant Huffman's free throw at the 12:41 mark of the first half stoked Vanderbilt's advantage to 13.

Tyler Tanner's second-chance dunk with 6:40 left pushed Vanderbilt's advantage to 16 before M.J. Collins canned a 3-pointer a minute later, expanding the margin to 34-15. Ole Miss clawed back, forging a 17-4 run capped by a dunk by Jaemyn Brakefield with 1:02 left to close to within six and trailed just 41-33 at the break.

Nickel led the Commodores with eight points before halftime as nine players saw the court for Vanderbilt and all of them had at least a point. Pedulla and Dia had 10 points each to pace the Rebels over the first 20 minutes.

Ole Miss whittled away at its deficit and gained the front for the first time with a 14-5 run capped by a Murray layup that produced a 47-46 lead with 16:08 to play.

--Field Level Media

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